Plum Blossoms and Wild Bird by Chen Hongshou: Guide

The bird is small beside the towering rock, yet its upright body immediately catches the eye. Follow its perch outward through the flowering branches, then downward through the twisting trunk. That route reveals how three very different forms connect within one narrow picture.

The Taipei Silk Scroll at a Glance

The dimensions refer to the painted image rather than a complete mounting. The signature uses the name Laochi (老遲, Lǎochí) and states that the picture was painted at Jingzheju; it gives no year.^[1] The Chinese scroll painting formats guide explains why a tall hanging scroll invites this kind of upward and downward looking.

The Bird Gives the Branch a Living Center

The catalogued bird is a Japanese Waxwing (朱連雀, zhūliánquè), the English name corresponding to the subject recorded for the painting. Its scientific name is Bombycilla japonica.^[1][3] Its painted form, however, reflects Chen’s taste for expressive transformation rather than strict naturalistic description.^[2]

Look first at the silhouette: a rounded, warm-colored breast sits beneath a darker head, with the bill extending to the right. The folded wing makes a darker shape along the body’s side. Those simple masses give the bird a solid, almost sculptural presence against the open silk.

Its perch runs across the composition while nearby twigs turn upward. The bird supplies a pause between these competing directions. Rather than flitting through a broad habitat, it occupies a concentrated stage made by the branch. For more examples of how plants and animals share pictorial space, see Chinese bird and flower painting.

The Plum Tree Winds around a Monumental Rock

The large stone is an ornamental Taihu rock (太湖石, Tàihúshí), with animated texture strokes that contribute to the picture’s expressive character.^[2] Its height and complexity make it a major subject alongside the bird.

Trace the plum trunk from the lower part of the picture. It changes direction repeatedly, disappearing against the dark stone and re-emerging where the ground becomes clearer. Small colored moss-like marks help distinguish sections of bark. Instead of reading the tree and rock as two objects placed neatly side by side, you must work out their overlapping paths.

The stone’s irregular lobes, creases and openings make this looking slower. Some dark passages seem to pull inward; projecting edges push outward. These effects keep the lower half active even though no animal moves there. Above, the branching tree spreads into a wider network, releasing the pressure of the dense rock group.

Rather than leading toward distant hills, this arrangement concentrates attention on a few nearby forms. Chen Hongshou’s broader artistic style provides context for that emphasis on unusual, deliberately shaped figures and natural subjects.

Rounded White Flowers Lighten the Composition

The blossoms were outlined in fine ink lines and filled with delicate color, with white used in their details to suggest fullness.^[2] This gives them a different presence from a flower made with one broad ink dab.

Look at a group close to the bird, then at the branch extending toward the right. Some blossoms open outward as small rounded faces; others turn partly away or remain buds. Their repetition links distant tips without making every cluster identical. Pale flowers remain visible against the aged silk and darker wood, so they guide the eye across the upper branches and back toward the central perch.

Plum imagery also belongs to a wider tradition of endurance and renewed hope around winter’s end.^[4] That background is explored in plum blossom meaning, while the painting’s particular interest lies in how its flowers are shaped and placed. To compare outline, color and wash more broadly, see Chinese painting techniques.

Compare It with Plum Blossoms and Rocks

These two works share the old-tree-and-stone subject but organize it differently. The added bird is more than another item in the scene: its compact body becomes a clear stopping point amid the branches.

The collection records distinguish the two objects.^[1][5] In the separate guide to Plum Blossoms and Rocks, compare its simpler rounded stone masses with the intricate rock anchoring the composition here.

How to Follow the Bird, Branches and Rock

1. Find the perch: Locate the bird and follow the branch beneath its feet in both directions.
2. Trace the trunk: Follow the bends downward, noticing where wood and stone overlap.
3. Compare the blossoms: Pick an open flower and a bud, then examine their outlines against the darker branches.
4. Take in the full height: Compare the dense lower rock group with the more widely spread branches above.

FAQs About Plum Blossoms and Wild Bird by Chen Hongshou

What kind of bird is shown?

It is catalogued as a Japanese Waxwing. The shape is strongly stylized, so its expressive pose matters alongside the species label.^[1][2][3]

Is the painting on paper or silk?

It is painted on silk, using ink and color. The paper support of Chen’s Beijing Plum Blossoms and Rocks belongs to a different work.^[1][5]

Does the scroll have an exact date?

No exact year appears in the recorded signature. It names the artist and the place of painting, while the museum catalogues the scroll under the Ming dynasty.^[1]

資料來源

[1] National Palace Museum, Taipei. Plum Blossoms and Wild Bird: Collection Record, Dimensions, Inscription and Subjects

[2] National Palace Museum, Taipei. Plum Blossoms and Wild Bird: Selected Artwork Commentary

[3] National Taiwan Museum. Japanese Waxwing: Specimen TMAV0735

[4] Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Birds, Plum Blossoms, and Bamboo in Winter: Plum Imagery in Chinese Tradition

[5] Palace Museum, Beijing. Chen Hongshou: Plum and Rock Hanging Scroll